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The blessing over the meal and matzah |  motzi matzah  | מוֹצִיא מַצָּה The familiar hamotzi blessing marks the formal start of the meal. Because we are using matzah instead of bread, we add a blessing celebrating this mitzvah. בְָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶֽחֶם מִן הָאָֽרֶץ Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz. We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who brings bread from the land. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתַָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ...

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Passover is a holiday with many different themes.  This breadth ensures that no two seders will ever be exactly alike and encourages each of us to engage equally, whether this is the first or hundredth seder you’ve attended.  It also challenges each of us to connect to the seder on a personal, individual level.  The themes offered are just a sampling, what other themes are you drawn to? Redemption: In the Exodus story, the Jews were redeemed physically from slavery. While...

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Finding and eating the Afikomen | tzafoon | צָפוּן The playfulness of finding the afikomen reminds us that we balance our solemn memories of slavery with a joyous celebration of freedom. As we eat the afikomen, our last taste of matzah for the evening, we are grateful for moments of silliness and happiness in our lives.

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Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with a recognition of the cycles of nature. As we remember the liberation from Egypt, we also recognize the stirrings of spring and rebirth happening in the world around us. The symbols on our table bring together elements of both kinds of celebration. We now take a vegetable, representing our joy at the dawning of spring after our long, cold winter, and dip it into...

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What's on the Table Contributed by Geoff Chesman The Seder Plate We place a Seder Plate at our table as a reminder to discuss certain aspects of the Passover story. Each item has its own significance. Maror – The bitter herb. This symbolizes the harshness of lives of the Jews in Egypt. Charoset – A delicious mix of sweet wine, apples, cinnamon and nuts that resembles the mortar used as bricks of the many buildings the Jewish slaves built in Egypt...

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To the tune of , of course, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!" Take me out to the Seder, take me out with the crowd. Read the Haggadah and don't skip a word. Please hold your talking, we want to be heard. And lets, root, root, root for the leader, that they will finish their shpiel So we can nosh, nosh, nosh and by-gosh, let's eat the meal! Take me out to the Seder, take me out with the crowd. Feed...

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We have now told the story of Passover…but wait! We’re not quite done. There are still some symbols on our seder plate we haven’t talked about yet. Rabban Gamliel would say that whoever didn’t explain the shank bone, matzah, and marror (or bitter herbs) hasn’t done Passover justice. The shank bone represents the Pesach, the special lamb sacrifice made in the days of the Temple for the Passover holiday. It is called the pesach, from the Hebrew word meaning “to pass...

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הוֹדוּ לַיי כִּי טוֹב, כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. יֹאמַר נָא יִשְׂרָאֵל, כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. יֹאמְרוּ נָא בֵית אַהֲרֹן, כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. יֹאמְרוּ נָא יִרְאֵי יי, כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. Hodu l'Adonai ki tov, ki l'olam chasdo. Yomar na yisra-eil, ki l'olam chasdo. Yomru na veit aharon, ki l'olam chasdo. Yomru na yirei Adonai, ki l'olam chasdo. Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good; His kindness endures forever.
Let Israel declare, His kindness endures forever.’
Let the house of Aaron declare His...

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Nirtzah  marks the conclusion of the seder. Our bellies are full, we have had several glasses of wine, we have told stories and sung songs, and now it is time for the evening to come to a close. At the end of the seder, we honor the tradition of declaring, “Next year in Jerusalem!” For some people, the recitation of this phrase expresses the anticipation of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem and the return of the Messiah. For others, it is...

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Our Passover Things (to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music) Cleaning and cooking and so many dishes Out  with the hametz, no pasta, no knishes Fish that's gefiltered, horseradish that stings These are a few of our Passover things Matzoh and karpas and chopped up haroses Shankbones and kiddush and Yiddish neuroses Tante who kvetches and uncle who sings These are a few of our Passover things CHORUS When the plagues strike When the lice bite...

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The central imperative of the Seder is to tell the story. The Bible instructs: “ You shall tell your child on that day, saying: ‘This is because of what Adonai did for me when I came out of Egypt.' ” (Exodus 13:8) We relate the story of our ancestors to regain the memories as our own. Elie Weisel writes: God created man because He loves stories. We each have a story to tell — a story of enslavement, struggle, liberation. Be...

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One little goat, one little goat. That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came a cat and ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came a dog and bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came a stick and beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came fire...

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Matzah is literally free of all additives, externalities and superficial good looks -- it is bread without the hot air.  It represents the bare essentials.Everything we pursue in life can be divided into necessities and luxuries.  To the extent that a luxury becomes a necessity we lose an element of our freedom by being enslaved to a false need.Jewish thought teaches that we should not submit to peer pressure, viewing ourselves as competing with others.  It is far better to focus...

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We will wash our hands twice during our seder: now, with no blessing, to get us ready for the rituals to come; and then again later, we’ll wash again with a blessing, preparing us for the meal. Too often during our daily lives we don’t stop and take the moment to prepare for whatever it is we’re about to do. Let's pause as we wash our hands to consider what we hope to get out of our evening together.

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Throughout our Seder, we pour four cups, remembering the gift of freedom that our ancestors received centuries ago and four promises fulfilled. The first cup as God said, "I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians." The second as God said, "And I will deliver you from their bondage." The third as God said, "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm with great judgements." The fourth because God said, "I will take you to be My People." We...

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.בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָֽיִם In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt. The seder reminds us that it was not only our ancestors whom God redeemed; God redeemed us too along with them.